The Same Reason I'd Fight For You
by Shnowflake
Summary: The Battle of Hogwarts has just finished. Harry and Voldie have a final conversation while everyone else is in the Room of Requirement, celebrating Voldie's death. Voldemort realizes some important things as he dies.


_**This is a mix of American and British English, so please note this in terms of the spelling.**_

_**Disclaimer: while I wrote this small passage of text, but the characters, and world they're in, are not mine. **_

Harry was staring at Voldemort. _Well, obviously I'm staring at him_, thought Harry, _We have been circling for about ten minutes while we've been talking. _

Voldemort stopped, and angrily shouted: '_Avada Kedavra_!'

Harry replied. '_Expelliarmus_!'

Time appeared to slow down, as it does during dramatic moments in a person's life, most often when someone was dying. In this instance, it was Voldemort, or more correctly '_I Am Lord Voldemort'_ or _Tom Marvolo Riddle_.

So, there they were, Harry and Tom, gazing at each other through the haze of two overly-powerful spells. Then the spells collided. The power of it forced the people closest to them to step backwards. Surprisingly, they (the spells) merged together, and Voldemort's curse was dragged backwards by Harry's charm, toward Voldemort.

Harry started listing the emotions running across Voldemort's face. _Shock, anger, annoyance, remorse, love, relief… _Harry stopped listing them. _Wait. What? Remorse? Love? He's glad he's dying?! Is that even Voldemort?_

Voldemort winced as he fell, unnoticed by everyone except Harry. 'This remorse thing hurts.' And then: 'Love? That's what this is all about? It's true you would never have fought me, if you did not love?' The words were lost in the cheering that sounded as the spell hit Voldemort, only Harry heard; only he was close enough. Harry had sat down next to Voldemort, so shocked by what Voldemort had just said, that he reacted as though it was someone totally else that he was replying to.

'Of course. If I had not loved, I would never have cared.'

'You wouldn't have cared that I tried to kill you?'

Harry smirked at that. 'That would mean I had loved myself.' And then quieter: 'As if that'd ever happen.'

Voldemort gaped his mouth. 'I think I feel the same about myself as I do Bella.'

'Maybe you love her.'

'I think I did.' He smiled sadly, which was an odd sight for Harry (Everyone else was too busy partying to notice Voldemort hadn't finished dying).

'Did?'

'Do.'

'I think you might have figured out what it means to love.'

'I think so too. I mean…' Voldemort smiled crookedly, as though talking to a friend. 'I love Bellatrix.'

Voldemort's whole body relaxed visibly with this conclusion, and slowly the remorse started showing on his face. 'There's something I always wanted to try.' He pulled a wand from a pocket in his black robes. '_Expecto patronum_.' A silver stag galloped from the wand.

Harry laughed. 'Prongs? Seriously?'

Voldemort gave a weak chuckle. 'James? Please. That thing looks a little more like a lion than a normal stag.'

Harry looked confused.

'You always were slow at getting things, weren't you, _Harry Potter_. You have been excellent at protecting me from myself. I wish I'd realised being loved is better than being feared.'

Harry stuttered, 'T-thanks.' More surprises.

'I think I may have a few apologies to make. Farewell, Harry. I'll see you, sometime.' Voldemort grinned softly, but it faded after a moment. 'Live long!'

'Just a few apologies.' Harry muttered, thinking about everyone who'd been hurt by Voldemort. 'Goodbye, Tom.' Harry said, kindly. Tom drew his last breath, looking like himself, not the creature he'd been. Harry guessed it was the remorse that had fixed him.

It was about ten minutes before anyone noticed Harry was missing. Well, it was ten minutes before anyone was concerned that Harry was missing. Luna had noticed about two minutes after Tom's death, and mentioned it to Neville at about nine minutes, saying, 'He's probably exhausted from everything that's happened recently, and he probably blames all the deaths on himself. He needs to be alone for a short while.' Neville had agreed. But when Neville had mentioned that to Molly Weasley, all hell had broken loose. Molly had run through the crowd yelling Harry's name ('HARRY! HARRY!'), as Neville had shouted after her 'HE JUST WANTS SOME DAMNED PEACE!'

Luna had already found Harry at this point and was just sitting next to him, as he shook with a mix of sadness, helplessness, and surprise.

Eventually, Harry composed himself enough to say, 'He discovered love.'

Luna smiled, and put her arm around Harry's back comfortingly. 'I hoped he would.'

They just sat for a while in silence, neither daring to make a sound. Harry started fixing Tom's black hair that had re-grown at the same time Tom's red eyes had changed back to blue.

Hermione ran in, calling Harry's name, which was echoing around the castle, many people were now searching. Nobody had thought to look with the dead. 'Ahhh, there you are, Harry.' Hermione said, quite loudly. 'Who's that?' She said, confused, and completely un-Hermione-like.

'Tom.' Harry whispered.

'Tom?' Hermione asked, still unsure.

'I think this is what remorse does.' He finished tucking Tom's hair behind Tom's ears, and Luna released him.

'Whaaa? Oh.' Hermione finally understood.

'Yeah.'

Hermione sat down on Harry's other side. The silence continued, but it was kind-of broken by Hermione, who had started sobbing (No one, not even Hermione herself ever worked out quite why she started crying, but it is thought it was the release of stress).

After a few more minutes, Ginny, Molly, Neville (Who'd noticed Luna was also missing and figured she'd be with Harry), Draco and Narcissa (Both of whom had started fighting against the other Death Eaters once they'd found each other) crashed through the doors still looking for Harry (with the obvious exception of Neville who knew Harry to be fine, and so he was looking for Luna).

They shuddered to a halt when they noticed the unrecognized body of Tom.

'Who's that?' Draco asked.

'Tom Marvolo Riddle,' Ginny snarled, remembering her time in the Chamber of Secrets. 'What's he doing here, anyway?' Only she knew that Tom was Voldemort. But still… Voldemort didn't look like that.

Hermione tried to answer but choked on tears and stood up, wrapping her arms around Ron's waist.

So Harry spoke. 'He, somehow, impossibly, discovered he loved someone. He realised what it means to love another human. This,' Harry gestured at Tom. 'Is remorse.'

More silence. Then Harry said brightly, 'Also, he wants to apologize. I think that thought was mostly for Bellatrix, but one can hope he wants to apologize to us too.'

They all smiled slightly, a pleasant thought in the middle of a death filled battle field (literally). Harry glanced at Ginny, quickly stood up and pulled her into a tight hug. Luna stood up as well, and they wandered back towards the party being held in the Room of Requirement (which the fiendfyre hadn't destroyed, surprisingly).

The castle was damaged. And at one point along the corridor the group was walking, the wall had fallen away completely, leaving an unblemished view of the sunrise.

'It's so beautiful,' Luna said simply, as they stopped to stare at it. She laced her fingers with Neville's as they stood side by side. Neville blushed. Luna smiled at Neville. 'How did we miss it?'

Tom placed his hands on Bella's shoulders, as they looked down on the world they had left. 'I know why they fought.'

Bellatrix had an unfinished expression on her sharp face. _Somewhere between contentment and confusion, _Tom thought. 'Why'd they fight, then?' Bellatrix asked.

'The same reason I'd fight for you, Bella.' Tom ran one of his hands down Bella's right arm, and caught her hand.


End file.
